locke



(No ModeL) 2 Sheets-Sheet. 1.

' s D. LOOKB.

GRAIN BINDER.

No. 252,482. Patented Jan. 17,1882.

(No M5561.) v 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 S. D. LOGKE.

V GRAIN BINDER.

No. 252,482. Patented Jan. 17,1882.

a UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

SYLVANUS D. LOOKE, OF HOOSIGK FALLS, NEW YORK.

GRAIN-BINDER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 252,482, dated January 17, 1882.

Application filed March 21, 1881. (No model.)

To allwhom it may concern Be it known that I, SYLvANUs D. Locks,-

as tying-bills; and it consists in applyingto.

the inner face ofone of the jaws of a knotter or tying-bill a spring-presser, which may act to a greater or less extent upon the cord held between said jaws, while the jaws themselves may retain their relative positions; .and in the various combinations and details of construction hereinafter pointed out and claimed.

in the drawings, Figures land 2 are respectively side and top views of a tying-bill or looping and tying head embodying my invention;

Fig.3, a view including holding and cutting devices, and showing the position of the cord just before the looping and tying head begins to operate; and Figs. 4, 5, and 6 show the positions of the cord and of the head at successive stages'in the operation of the latter.

A represents a tying head or bill. having two jaws, a and b, and mounted, as usual, upon the end of a short shaft or spindle, and driven by means of a pinion, B, which will advisably have a delay-shoe, or be equivalently controlled to cause intermittent action of the head and to stop it in its proper position, In the present instance the tying-head is"formed as a true tying-bill, haviiigan irregularly curved or camshaped exterior surface to which its jaws con- Y tribute, and which guides or assists to guide thestrands of cord into position to form the knot as the head revolves; but it will be obvious, as my invention is hereinafter explained, that certain of its salient features may be employed in various other knotting devices, as in those wherein ashaft carryinglaterally-projectingjaws works, in connection with a surround ing tube receiving said jaws in its end after the cord has been caught, so as to present a flush or substantially flush terminal surface,

loop. The endof the cord, after the loop has been formed and crossed by the revolution of the knotter, are carried in between the jaws, and there held whilethe loop is pulled or pushed off upon them and the knot tightened. Heretofore, it has for this purpose either been tightly clamped between the meeting faces of said jaws or checked by a lug or stop at their point, while measurably free in a limited space behind said stop. In order that it may be held under a more or less yielding or elastic pressure, I apply to the inner face of the jaw a a spring-plate, c, which for some distance runs parallel with the inner face of the opposing jaw 11, and then near the nose or point of the jaws is turned up into an aperture or recess, d, into which it may sink or play. The cord be tween the jaws will thereforebe pressed upon bythe spring, which will yield to accommodate itself to the pull or stress or to different sizes of cord without necessarily affecting the relation between the jaws themselves.

To prevent the strands of cord from wedging out from beneath the spring before the proper time, I form upon the point of thejaw b a lug or rib, e, behind which the end of the spring comes, and which will afford a substantially positive stop to the escape of said strands in the tying operation; and that the strands may pass in between the jaws without being obstructed by the spring, I arrange the turnedup end of the latter at an easy incline, so that it maybe raised or pushed aside when the strands come forcibly against it. The inner face or back of-the lug will also preferably be slightlyinclined or beveled, so that when the completed knot is drawn or released from the jaws it may not unduly obstruct it.

In Letters Patent'granted me July 29, 1879, and numbered 218,038, I have described a ty- 9o ingbill having a rigid lowerjaw provided with a rib or shoulder at the point and substantially corresponding with the jaw 1) herein shown, and an elastic upper jaw which yields to permit the entrance and escape of the cord and 5 in outline and location resembles the jaw a. The spring-presser may advantageously be applied to said elastic upperjaw; but the latter," being formed of a flexible plate, is liable to yield or bend as the loop isdrawn tight and cause [0O it to bind; and I therefore prefer to make the jaw a of rigid materialand provide for the admission and release of the cord by other means, either suchas already known in the art or the arrangement now to be described. I secure thejaw firmly to the heel of the tying-bill and extend it over the crown until it overhangs and partly passes therib upon theopposiu gjaw,\vith such a space between as to freely admit the strands ofcord. Theleaf orplate spring, which maybe conveniently secured by the same means which fasten thejaw, is carried along the inner face of the latter at such normal distance as to bring it near its end below the crest of the. rib on the otherjaw and almost in contact with the rear face of said rib, and then rises, as before stated, toward its socket in thejaw a at an easy incline, so as to either touch or slightlysclear the rib just behind its crest. The cord therefore, as it is brought between the jaws after the'loop has been formed around the1n,will ride over the rib, push up the spring, and pass into the recess behind,when the spring, falling upon it, presses it against the lower jaw back of the rib, and so shuts off its exit until the proper time determined by the action of the machine. In operation, thestrands of cord, after they have been carried around the gavel by the usual carryingdevice or biudin g-arm,will run past the knotter, asin Fig. 3, to any suitable holding and cutting mechanism-as, for insfance, that de-' scribed in an application filed by me on the 31st day of December, 1879, and of which this is'a division. The knotter is then started, and in its first revolution the strands of cord are brought to the position indicated in Fig. 4. As

it completes the first half of its second revolution the loop is formed, and the ends leading to the holder are crossed upon the gavel portion and stretched past the mouth of the jaws. In the third quarter of said revolution they wedge in between thejaws, press up the spring,

and drop behind the rib, where they are immediately secured by the return of the spring. The knotter then reaches the end of its revolution and is stopped, and the loop is pushed or drawn off upon the end strands, which are immediately severed. The completed knot is now pulled from the jaws, which, to further tighten it, is done forcibly, the spring being lifted with marked resistance and the bow escaping over the rib or shoulder. This action 7 will, however, be more or less modified by the varying conditions or exigencies of the structure in which the spring .is used, and if the cord be favorably presentedone revolution of the knotter above described will be sufficient, instead of two.

It is evident that in a tying bill the spring, instead of acting against the lower jaw and yielding toward or into the upper, may be caused to act against the upper jaw and yield toward or into thelower, and that in such case the cord will be compressed between said spring and upperjaw. Various other modifications will also suggest themselves to those familiar with this class of mechanism.

I aui aware that in the patent granted to Israel Lancaster, April 24, 1866, numbered 54,177, and afterward reissued, a spring is shown in connection with jaws of a knotter. This is distinguished, however, from the spring whichI useinthatitisnota plate orleaf spring, and is not between thejaws pressing the cord against the face of one, but outside of them, confining the-cord against an edge.

- I claim as my invention- 1. Ina cord-kuotter, an elastically-yielding plate or leaf spring beneath one ot'thejaws of said knotter and opposing the other, to press upon the cord between the two.

2. In a cord-knotter, the combination of a jaw having a shoulder at or near its point, an opposing jaw, and an elastically-yielding plate orleaf spring between the two and pressing on the cord toward the face of the shouldered j aw.

3. In a cord-knotter, the combination of a rigid jaw having a shoulder at or near its point, an opposing rigid jaw overlying the first and slightly clearing its shoulder, so as to leave a space between, and an elastically-yielding plate or leaf spring between the two jaws bent or beveled upward at its end to pass by the shoulder into a recess in the point of the second jaw;

4. In a tying-bill, the combination of a. jaw having curved or cord-deflecting surfaces, an opposing jaw, and an elastically-yielding plate or leaf spring acting between the two from the ace of one toward the face of the other, and substantiallyparallel along its length with the face toward which it presses.

5. In a tying-bill, the combination of the rigid lower jaw having curved or cord-deflect ing surfaces, the opposing upper jaw, and an elastically-yielding plate orleafsp'ringbeneath the face of the upper jaw and acting against the cord toward the face of the lowerjaw.

6. In a tying-bill, the combination of the rigid lower jaw having curved or cord-deflecting surfaces and shouldered at its point, the opposing upper jaw, and an elastically-yielding plate or leaf spring beneath the face of the upper jaw and inclined or beveled at its outer end upward past the shoulder onth'e lowerjaw.

7. In a tying-bill, the combination of the rigid lower jaw having curved or cord-deflecting surfaces and shouldered at its point, the opposing upper jaw recessed or perforated near its point, and an elastically-yielding plate or leaf spring beneath the face of the upper jaw, bent upward at its outer end past said shoulder and taking into said recess.

8. In a tying-bill, the combination of the rigid lower jaw having curved or cord-deflecting surfaces and shouldered at its point, the opposing upper jaw rigidly secured to the heel of the bill and overlying said shoulder, with a space between, and an elastically-yielding plate or spring underlying the face of the upper jaw and pressing toward the face ofthe lower jaw, r

9. In a tying-bill, the combination of. the bent upward at its endto pass by the rib or rigid lower jaw having curved or. cord-deflect-- shoulder into a recess in the upper jaw'near ing surfaces and shouldered at its point,.the its point.

opposing upper jaw rigidly secured to the heel SYLVANUS D. LOOKE: 5 of the bill and overlying said shoulder, with Witnesses: 1

a space between, and an elastically-yielding JOSEPH G. PARKINSON,

plate orlea-f spring between the two jaws and JOHN W. OORSON. 

